Fountain-pen.



N0. 678,466. Patented .luly I6, 190i.

B. B. GULDSMITH.

FOUNTAIN PEN..

(Application led Jun. 31, 1901.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

l --..u-'I" @WWI/M2415..

Pubmed lulyl, 190|.

no. 673,436.A

' B GoLnsmTH.

A FOUNTAIN PEN.

(Appliction med Jip. 81, 1901.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(lin Model.)

UNITED STATES llrrENT OEEICE.

BYRGN B. GOLDSMITH, OF NEVVgYORK, N. Y.

FOUNTAINLPEN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 678,466, dated J'uly 16, 1901.

'Application led January 3l, 1901. Serial N. 45,484. (No model.) I I T0 a/ZZ whom it' may concern.-

Be it known that I, BYRON B. GoLDsMrrH, a citizen of the United States,`and a' resident of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fountain-Pens,oi` which the following is a speciiication.

This invention has reference to improvements in fountain-pens, and more especially to the construction ofthe feed-plug.

The object of the present invention is to provide a fountain-penin which the pen is held within the feed-plug'so as to be firmly clamped when the plug is inserted in the holder-and when the plug and pen are removed for cleaning toV allow of their being readily replaced in their proper position for use without the danger of disturbing the adjustment of paris. The feed-'plug is further distinguished by the simplicity of construction and perfect automatic action. In all but one of the modifications shown the pen itself is utilized in part to divide the channel in the feedplug into two parts, one of Ywhich forms the ink and the other the air duct. For this purpose the feed-plug is made to t snugly into the front end of the fountain-pen reservoir and is cut away at the nose and is also slotted for the reception of the shank of the pen. The ink-duct extends from the rearend of the plug into the nose and terminates at the pennibs just back of the tip of the nose, while the air-duct extends along the feed-plu g from the rear end to the cut-away portion, but lies along the opposite sides of the pen. Although the portion of the feed above the pen which would form the air-channel is cut away, the

. feed would operate if such portionwere left as long as the ink-d uct, in which case the airchannel would also assist in feeding the ink. The air-duct may be formed in one with the ink-duct, in which case the pen-shank so far as it extends forms the division-wall. Again, the air and ink d ucts may be separate and distinct throughout their lengths or throughout a' portion of their length. Nor is it necessary that theink-'duct should be below the pen, since it maybe on top of the pen and the air-duct4 may be under the pen. The improved feed-plug is shown in the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of the improved feed-plug and a portion of the front end of the usual screw-tip, forming a continuation of the fountain-pen barrel or reservoir. Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the feedplug on the line 0c .fr of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 3 is a front view of the feed-plug. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal section of another form of feed-plug embodying my invention. line y y of Fig. 4 looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 6 is a cross-section of still another form of feed-plug. Fig. 7 is a front view of the same, and Fig. 8 is alongitudinal section of a feed-plug with a sloping longitudinal channel. Fig. 9 is a rear View of a modified form of plug. Fig. l0 is a section on the line 10 10, and Fig. 1l a section on the line 11 11, of Fig. l2; and Fig. l2 is a side elevation.

` Referring to the drawings, there is shown in Fig. l the usual front end or screw-tip l of a fountain-pen barrel or reservoir, to the bore of which is fitted the feed-plug 2 in such manner as to be held by friction only, but firmly enough to remain in place when in use, though easily removable for cleaning. The feed-plug is cylindrical for the greater portion of its length, but is reduced at the front end to form a nose 3, which lies under the pen-nibs, except in the form shown in Figs. 6 and 7,'Where it is located above the pennibs. This nose 3 is cut down on top, below the upper surface of the body of the plug, and is curved laterally to correspond to the lateral curvature of the pen. Extending back into the body of the plug from the top surface of the nose 3 and constituting a continuation of the curved upper surface of the same there is a curved slot 4 for receiving the shank of a pen, and when the plug is in- Fig. 5 is a cross-section on the v serted in the end of the penholder the por- Y tion 5 above the slot is held down upon the pen-shank so tightly as to hold the pen firmly in place.

Formed in the upper part ofthe feed-plug is a central longitudinal groove 6. (Shown as V-shaped in the form illustrated in Figs. l, 2, and 3.) This groove extends from the rear end of the feed-plug to a point just back of the tip of the nose 3. 'The groove as shown is radial to the body of the plug and extends toward the periphery, where it opens along IOO the entire length of the plug except at the extreme tip of the nose. Although the groove is shown as V-shaped, which is the preferred form, any other shape can be used without departing from the principle'of my invention. In fact, a U-tube of appropriate cross-section might be employed as one embodiment of the cylindrical plug with the longitudinal groove. Thefeedoperateswhen the groove is of uniform depth throughout most of its length, although I have found it to he of advantage to have the groove of gradually-increasing depth from the rear end of the plug to a point just back of the end of the nose, where the groove again grows narrow and shallow to its terminal point, which is due to the curvature on the rotary cutters with which the groove is made. A groove of increasing depth from the rear end forward to a point just backlof the nose is indicated in Fig. 8. The increased depth of the groove under the pen serves to form a small reservoir for the storage of ink, and in this way facilitates the uniform feeding of the same. This groove is divided into an upper channel and a lower channel by the pen 7 so far as it extends back into the body of the plug when in place in the slot 4. When the pen is in use, the ink flows down the groove through the lower channel and is fed directly to the under side of the pen-nibs, the act of writing aidingin the feeding of the ink by a sort of pumping action. As the ink ows to the pen it is replaced by air, which enters the reservoir through the upper channel. Thus a constant flow of ink to the pen is as sured.

` NVhen the fountain-pen is not in use, the pen-nibs cover and close the front end of the ink-duct, thus preventing accidental escape of the ink from the reservoir, since the airduct is too small to permit the ink to flow through the same spontaneously.

In the form shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the inkduct is in the form of a central longitudinal hole S in the body portion of the feed-plug, which contracts at the front end. This contracted portion may be made as a rectangular channel or groove 9, of even width, commencing just back of the tip of the nose 3 and coalescingwith the hole 8. Along the top of the body of the feed-plug is a shallow groove l0, of even depth, and in this case of rectangular cross-section and terminating at apoint about coincident to the front end of the central hole 8. In this form as well as in the first form described the pen when inserted in the slot 4 is firmly clamped between the two parts formed by the slot 4 when the plug is inserted in the fountain-pen barrel. It is also manifest that the construction of the above-described plugs maybe otherwise varied. Thus, for instance, I may employ the radial-groove construction of Fig. lat the forward end of the plug, where the slot 4 is found, using the separate ink and air duct of Fig. 4 at the rear of the plug.

In the structure shown in Figs. 6 and 7 the nose 8 is located above the pen-nibs and the main portion of the groove 6 is below the same. Otherwise the structure is the same as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

It will of course be understood that the reversal of the parts-that is, the location of the ink-duct above the pen to feed ink to the top of the same and the location of the airduct below the pen-is an obvious variation `within the scope of my invention.

It will be readilyunderstood that instead of a feed being made of one piece it may be longitudinally divided, the division being so shaped that when both are laid together they will have the same appearance as the undivided feed. One form of division which is practicable is a continuation of the peu-receiving slot. In this case the pen will be clamped between two separate pieces.

I shall now describe the modification shown in Figs. 9 to I3, inclusive, which has been found most efficient in practice for feeding the proper quantity of ink to the pen-nibs. It will be seen that this form of feed-plug has the ink-duct onvthe top of the pen, the views having been inverted for convenience of illustration. Its characteristic feature, however, is best seen by an examination of Fig. 12. The dotted line 60 GO designates the bottom of the groove, which is inclined from left to right. The full line 4 shows the arc-shaped pen-slot. It thus appears that the pen-slot crosses and divides the groove at a little above its lowest point at the line l0 l0 and coalesces with the bottom of the groove at or near the line 1l l1. This also appears from an inspection of Figs. 10 and ll, that portion of the groove 6 which acts as the ink-duct still being represented in Fig. 10 as a distinct part and having coalesced with the pen-slot in Fig. 11. I have found by numerous experi ments that this construction, in which the pen-slot crosses the groove at one point and then coalesces with its bottom, gives the best results in regard to feeding the proper amount of ink to the pen-nibs. The groove G in this modification has been shown as constructed with parallel walls which flare outwardly at their top. Such shape I have found particularly useful in enabling bubbles of air to be fed inward through the flaring portion of the groove to the ink-reservoir. Again, the nose 3 in this modification is made with a reduced portion 3l, which gives the proper amount of flexibility to the point of the nose, so that it may not interfere with the action of the pen in writing.

In building a feed-plug as illustrated in Figs. 9 to l2 I take a cylindrical block of a proper material and begin by sawing a slot with parallel side walls from its back to a point a little short of the front end, which is to constitute the nose. bottom inclined downwardly, as shown by the dotted lines 60 60 in Fig. 12. I then pass a cutter or other tool of Haring shape along the IOO IIO

Ihis slot 6 has its upper edge of the slot to produce the iiare shown in the drawings. I now use a barrelsaW and cut the arc-shaped pen-receiving slot 4 from the front of the cylindrical plug back to the line 1l 1l. I do this in such a manner that the slot 4 crosses the groove 6 throughout its length and coalesces with the bottom of the groove at its rear end. Before proceeding further what is finally to constitute the nose of the plug is ground down to a tapering point. I now cut down along the plane l0 lO, and the piece of the original' plug above the nose 3 falls away. A dat file now comes into play to reduce on both sides that portion of the nose which is shown at 3l, and the feedplug is finished. The cut-away portion 312 thus formed on the upper side constitutes a subsidiary ink-reservoir.

Having thus fully described the invention,` what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. A fountain-pen feed-plug having a 1ongitudinal groove extending to the surface of the plug and a pen-receiving slot crossing the groove and dividing it into an ink-duct and an air-duct respectively, substantially as described.

2. Afountain-pen feed-plughavingagroove of gradual-increasing depth from its rear end to a point near its front end, substantially as described.

3. A fountain-pen feed-plug comprising a body portion and a nose, a longitudinal groove extending to the surface of the plug and along the body portion and to the tip of the nose, and a pen-receiving slot in the body portion crossing the groove, substantially as described.

4. A feed-plug divided by a' pen-receiving slot, and having an ink-channel communicat- 4o ing with the pen-nibs in that portion of the plug lying on one side of the slot and having the portion of the plug on the other side of the slot formed with a channel extending to the surface of the plug, substantially as de- 4.5 scribed.

5. A fountain-pen feed-plug having a longitudinal groove extending to the surface of the plug and a pen-receiving slot crossing and dividing the groove and thereafter coalescing 5owith its bottom, substantially as described.

6. A fountain-pen feed-plug having a longitudinal groove with parallel Walls which extend to and iiare outwardly at the surface of the plug and a pen-receiving slot crossing and 5 5 dividing the groove into an ink-duct and an airduct respectively, substantially as described. f

7. A fountain-pen feed-plug having a 1ongitudinal groove extending to the surface of 6o the plug, a pen-receiving slot crossing and dividing the groove and a nose having a reduced portion to give it iiexibility, substantially as described.

8. A fountain-pen feed-plug, having a lon- 65 gitudinal groove, extending to the surface of the plug, the groove having an inclined bottoln and a pen-receiving slot crossing and dividing the groove and thereafter coalescing with the bottom, substantially as described. 7o

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

BYRON B. GOLDSMI'IIL Witnesses:

C. E. FINN, ALBERT SECKENDORF.- 

